Hyundai's i30 on top of a market on track for new records.

Ford overtakes Holden as Mustang soars

Ford has overtaken Holden for the first time in years, helped by soaring sales for the new Mustang sports car and Ranger ute.

The blue oval's monthly sales have not surpassed Holden since 1999. Its fortune is illustrated nicely by a Mustang galloping away as the nation's favourite sports car, finding 700 sales in April - more than the combined total achieved by the Mazda MX-5, Toyota 86, Subaru BRZ and Nissan 370Z. Similarly, the Ford Ranger is Australia's most popular four-wheel-drive ute, regularly outpacing Toyota's popular HiLux.

While Holden's sales have fallen by 18 per cent for the year to date, the blue oval's sales continue to grow - though many critically acclaimed models such as the Focus and Mondeo are comprehensively outsold by more popular models.

Holden's saving grace is that the Commodore continues to perform well as the country's best selling large sedan.

Industry figures show motorists bought around 87,570 cars in April, well up from 81,650 or so in the same month last year.

The new Ford Mustang has had a significant impact on sports car sales. Photo: Supplied

Sales in every state except for Western Australia were up, and this year's market is stronger to the tune of 13,500 cars over the same position last year.

Hyundai's i30 took first place again, well clear of Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger utes in second and third place.

The i30's success is testament to the power of discounting – the brand sold just 2298 i30s in April 2015 before near-doubling that number last month.

Hyundai has been selling the entry-level i30 Active with an automatic transmission for $19,990 drive-away, well down from that car's regular price of $23,290 plus thousands more in on-road costs.

Toyota's HiLux is the nation's best-selling ute. Photo: Supplied

The deal has resonated with Australian buyers, who flock to the i30 whenever it is on sale. The brand's promotion expires on June 30, making it likely that the i30 will continue to be strong until the end of the financial year.

Hyundai's hatchback is one of four cars in contention for the title of Australia's favourite car this year. The Toyota HiLux and Corolla, Mazda3 and i30 have all recorded well more than 12,500 sales for the year to date, though none have emerged as a runaway favourite to become number one in December.

Moving down a size, the new Holden Spark proved popular with buyers in April, out-gunning the Mitsubishi Mirage to become the best-selling micro car in Australia. The Hyundai Accent was comfortably on top of the Mazda2 and Toyota Yaris in the next size up.

Compact SUVs are leading the charge for Mazda, where the CX-3 and CX-5 were on top of their segments once again. The CX-5 saw off a close challenge from a resurgent Toyota RAV4 in April, while the CX-3 was more than 500 sales clear of its nearest competitors.

Mercedes-Benz remains on top in the luxury stakes, within the top 10 carmakers overall for the year to date. Its C-Class sedan remains on top of the medium-sized luxury segment, though that model's 2000-odd sales in 2016 pale against the 3200 it managed in the same period last year.

The new Mercedes-Benz GLC continues to lead luxury SUV sales, and Mercedes-AMG performance cars outsold German rivals from Porsche in April as well.

Porsche continues to grow in Australia, selling plenty of sports cars as well as more SUVs than the likes of Volvo.